NELFUND: Erring Institutions to Be Dealt With, Offences Criminalised

•No funds diverted, N54bn disbursed to over 293,000 students

Kuni Tyessi and Juliet Akoje in Abuja
 

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, has vowed to deal with institutions that go contrary to the terms and conditions surrounding funds paid to it on behalf of students.

It said while the Fund lacks the statutory power to suspend, remove or expel erring heads of institutions, any traced illegality will be reported and dealt with administratively by the minister of education.

It further affirmed it will not allow the initiative of President Bola Tinubu towards making education accessible to willing Nigerians to be sabotaged on the altar of selfish interest.

Speaking during its third day stakeholders’ meeting and engagement with Heads of Colleges of Education, Agriculture, Health and Nursing, yesterday in Abuja, the Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyer, said the commitment of the Fund is to pay all registration charges that will admit students into classes for lectures tutorials, and exams amongst others.

In another related development, while refuting claims that funds meant for the student loan scheme were misappropriated, it asserted its records indicate a clear and transparent disbursement process.

According to NELFund, out of the N203 billion allocated for student loans, N54 billion has already been distributed to eligible recipients without any irregularities.

This clarification was made by NELFund’s MD, Akintunde Sawyerr, during a session with the House of Representatives Committee on Students Loans held on Wednesday.

Sawyerr addressed the concerns following a statement issued the previous Friday by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which reported that their investigations had revealed various irregularities related to the loan fund.

He said “I think their report followed a report in the print media that suggested that 51 institutions were erring. One were the irregularities they seem to have identified with the institutions and their relationship with the students in terms of access to education and charges or otherwise”

Meanwhile, noting that so far, 303 institutions have been paid on behalf of 293,000 students, Sawyer said the loan is applicable with how it has been set up and this includes JAMB, NIN, BVN and the matrix numbers, while remarking that the longevity seems to have attracted more people.

According to him, “The commitment of NELFUND is to pay all their registration charges. Our instruction is that once they have paid their institutional charges, they must have access, I repeat, they must have access to education, lectures, classes, tutorials and examination.

“We paid the whole amount, we don’t want the students to put their hands in their pockets and bring out money, and we do not want students to pay because the school told them they haven’t received any money when they already have.

“That’s going to be a serious matter and will be attended to administratively. And if anything illegal is going on, they will be death with as criminal offences if schools are asking students to pay when we already have paid.

“This is not an issue of refund. There are certain instances when we’ve made payments to schools after the students have actually paid because we started payment mid-cycle, but anybody who pays to the school after the school has received money from NELFUND is committing a crime.

“We don’t have the power to sanction – we can’t suspend, remove or expel, but if we find anything, we have to take it to the minister and if it’s criminal in nature, we have to escalate it to the agencies that will ensure that economic crimes and practices are not being committed.

“We can’t also punish the students for refusing to pay for next session in the name of sanctioning the school. So, we are threading with caution. Institutions that are erring are the ones that will face the music, and the minister is determined that this programme by President Bola Tinubu is not sabotaged by selfish interest.

Appreciating public outcry on real or perceived illegalities, Sawyer revealed that plans for thorough investigation into the matter has been concluded with the sperate investigative panels including the National Orientation Agency, NELFUND and the federal ministry of education.

“We are already conducting our own investigation. The NOA is conducting its own investigation, and the ministry of education through the Honourable Minister is conducting a holistic investigation.”

Meanwhile, during a session with the House of Representatives Committee on Students Loans held on Wednesday, he said: “We, as the NELFund, were caught up in that release by the ICPC, who indicated that they were of the opinion that funds had been diverted by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund. We immediately reacted to that report because we recognised the damage, even though we knew it was unbounded, we recognised the damage that it might do to public confidence in a scheme where there was already a great deal of skepticism.

“Our reaction led to the ICPC looking again at their statement, and within a matter of hours, they retracted the statement that suggested that the Nigerian Education Loan Fund might be diverting funds.

“They did not retract their assertion about the irregularities in the educational system and in the institutions, but they retracted wholehearted their allegation that funds have been diverted.

“I don’t think that has happened ever in Nigeria, where a security agency within hours reverses itself on a statement that was made. Nevertheless, a great deal of damage was done because, as you know, Honourable Members, once news is out there, you can retract all you like.

“It takes on a life of its own, and a lot of confidence has been lost in our institution, and it is sad for the institution of NELFund and for the country of Nigeria. We have worked very hard to put out the narrative that actually the new statement by the ICPC vindicates NELFund and establishes the fact that no funds have been diverted.”

He further stated that “in line with its mandate, NELFund is to spend 90% of the funds that come to it exclusively on the loans to pay the fees of students. Those funds cannot be touched and cannot be used for anything else. Any form of diversion in that regard would be a breach of the law. So, just going straight through to the numbers, I can confirm that the Nigerian Education Loan Fund has done the following”

“NELFund has paid, as of today, 303 institutions, government-owned institutions, universities, polytechnics, colleges of education. 303. NELFund has paid out, has disbursed a total of approximately 54 billion Naira. 54 billion Naira has left the account of NELFund to go to pay for the loans that people have applied for”

“That 54 billion Naira is split into two sections. 30 billion of those, of that Naira I just talked about, the 54 billion, 30 billion has been paid to the 303 institutions that I just mentioned. 24 billion has been paid as pocket money or stipend to 293,000 students who are Nigerians, studying at tertiary level in Nigerian government-owned institutions. Representing direct beneficiaries of NELFund at 293,000. So far, NELFund has received 203 billion Naira in the bank account that we hold at the Central Bank of Nigeria. I’ll just break that down because those funds came in in segments.”

While speaking on the funds so far received by NELFund, he said “the Fund initially received N10 billion from the Office of the Accountant General appropriated funds as directed by the Minister for Finance. We then received 71 billion Naira from TETFund, approximately. This was as a result of an order by the President for TETFund to release 143 billion Naira to NELFund. They released 71 billion in the first instance, plus, and then another 71 billion, making 143 when we add the top onto it.

“And then, finally, we received a further 50 billion Naira proceeds, recovered proceeds of crime, from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, again as directed as an intervention fund from His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. So the total comes to 203 billion Naira received.

“I raise these, and I mention these figures because, clearly, there were errors in the, apart from the fact that the statement by the ICPC was unfounded and later confirmed by them that it was unfounded, there were also some inaccuracies in the announcement. The announcement suggested that we had received 100 billion Naira. That figure was wrong.

“The announcement suggested that 28 billion had been disbursed. That figure was wrong. It was understated. Both figures were understated. And it therefore concluded that, therefore, 71 billion Naira may have been diverted. So you can see that from even the figures they provided, which were inaccurate in the first instance, the wrong conclusions were drawn even about that.”

Furthermore, he added that “I have to say that we take with the utmost seriousness any issues of funds being diverted within and outside or related to in any way NELFund because we recognise that this project is a sacred project and it should not be tampered with because the people and the constituency that we are catering for really usually have nowhere else to turn to. They have no jobs. They have no opportunities and education represents probably the last bridge that they can climb to get an opportunity.

“So, we recognise that we can stunt the growth of not just Nigeria but of individuals within Nigeria if we don’t behave and act responsibly”

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Ifeoluwa Ehindero stated that, the administration of the student loan scheme has been implemented by the National Education Loan Fund.

Ehindero said: “The committee has been inundated with several reports, making waves on the social media, including concerns about possible diversion of loan funds and issues that have to do with the disbursement and administration of the student loan by certain federal institutions.

“This has necessitated this meeting that we have called the agency, the National Education Loan Fund, to come and make clarifications and enlighten this committee on the issues that have been making rounds on social media.

“So, based on this, you have been invited to make clarifications and enlighten this committee on the issues that have been going on, on the disbursement and administration of the student loans being administered by your agency.”